iustice that Dauid doeth promise to execute against al the wicked of the land Psalm 101. to incourage men to cruelty and contention but all in vaine like as his purpose for which he alledgeth them was wicked namely to ouerthrowe the true and naturall sense of the scripture But yet the same Origen is directly against maister Heskins in that cause for which he is alledged as appeareth plainely in Leuitici cap. 16. Hom. 9. An tu putas qui vix diebus fectis ad Ecclesiam venis c. Thinkest thou whiche scarcely commest to the Church vpon the holy dayes giuest no heede to heare the wordes of God nor takest any paines to fulfill his commandements that the Lordes lot can come vppon thee Yet we wish that after you haue heard these things you would take paines not only in the Church to heare the wordes of God but also at home in your houses to be exercised and to meditate in the Lawe of the Lorde day and night Go your wayes now and boaste of Origens authoritie that the scriptures are not to be read of all men when in a publique Sermon he exhorteth all the people to the diligent reading of them and sharply reproueth them for their negligence in this behalfe The third Chapter to declare the newe Testament not to be easie to be vnderstanded â–ª bringeth diuers obscure places of the same As I said before there was neuer man yet so foolish to affirme the scriptures to be so easie that there was no obscure place in them but that nothing needful to saluation is so obscure in them but that it may be easily vnderstoode by conference of other places where the fame is most plainely set foorth But let vs see his wise reasons to proue the new Testament to be hard bicause some places therein be hard to be vnderstanded The Euangelistes Matthewe and Luke seeme to varrie in the Genealogie of Christ therefore all is not easie What then They both doe manifestly agree in that which is materiall for our faith â—hat Christe was the seede of Abraham and the sonne of Dauid In the rest what straunge matter is it if one pedegree be brought from one principall ancester by seuerall discents lineall and collaterall natural and legall by the male and by the female â–ª For the second obscure place Chrysostome is alledged who Numbereth it among the hid thinges howe Elizabeth being of the tribe of Leuie may be called the cousen of Marie A perillous doubt in solution whereof though a number be ignoraunt yet I doubt not but they may be saued And yet by conference of the stories of scripture it is easie to finde that men of the tribe of Iuda might marrie of the Priestes daughters and the Priestes did marrie euen of the Kings daughters of Iuda By which mariages cousenage might easily be vnderstoode to growe betweene the two tribes â–ª notwithstanding the lawe of Num 36. Which did forbid only those marriages by which the inheritances might be confounded The third doubtfull place is in Marke 13. Where it is said that Of that day and houre knoweth no man no not the Angels in heauen nor the sonne him selfe but the father And Chrysostome is againe alledged to shewe that this is a doubtful place and yet a simple Christian that knoweth the two diuers natures in Christ humane and diuine can easily solute it and say that although Christe by his godhead knoweth all things yet as he was man he knewe not all things The fourth proofe is taken out of the example of Algasia and Hedibia two godly women and studious of the scriptures whereof the one found twelue the other eleuen doubtes in the newe Testament and sent to S. Hieronyme for resolution of them I maruell M. Heskins hath so small discretion to alledge these examples which do quight ouerthrowe his purpose If not onely men but women also may read the scriptures and profite so well in the studie of them that they can finde but eleuen or twelue doubts in the whole newe Testament for resolution whereof they did as became good schollers send so farre for the iudgement of their learned maister But M. Heskins not content to shewe that they douted will also set downe some of their douts namely this one moued by Algasia Why Iohn the Baptist should send his disciples to Christ to aske this question Art thou he that shalt come or do we looke for an other seeing he both knewe openly pointed at Christ with his finger before Although this good woman doubted of this matter yet it is easie to answer that theÌ„ he sought the instructioÌ„ of his disciples rather then the confirmation of his owne knowledge An other was moued by Hedibia Howe Christ in Iohn 20. forbad Marie to touch him when Matthew 28. affirmeth that the women held his feete It seemeth to M. Heskins that one of these must be vntrue I dare say it seemed not so to Hedibia although she could not perfectly reconcile these places But seeing that both these reports are true it is plaine ynough that he suffered Marie Magdalene to holde his feete so much as was sufficient to confirme the certeintie of his resurrection forbad her not vntil she shewed her self too much addicted to his bodily preseÌ„ce Another doubt is howe Marke saith the women came to the sepulchre when the Sunne was rysen and then saith Marie Magdalene came early in the morning when it was yet darke A woman sitting at her distaffe woulde easily solue this doubt and say that it was darke when they set foorth of their dores but the Sunne was risen by that time they came to the Sepulchre Yet another doubt of Hedibia whether Christ breathing on his Apostles gaue them the holie Ghost when he promised to send him after his ascension There is no doubt but he did then in some small measure but afterwardes sent him with most plentifull vertue and power To conclude what needed Austen to haue written a great volume De consensu Euangelistarum what needed the comentaries of Hieronyme Ambrose vpon the Euangelistes or the Homilies of Chrysostome Augustine and the expositions of so manie learned men c. if the Scriptures be so plaine easie O foolish conclusion as though the Scriptures may not planely set foorth vnto vs all things necessarie for vs to learne and yet the same things with all other things conteined in them be set forth more plainly largely to the instruction increase of our faith hope comfort obedience c. by Comentaries Homelies expositions yea admonitions and exhortations The fourth Chapter conteineth certeine hard places of the Epistles M. Heskins taketh great paines in those Chapters to proue that which no man doubteth of that there be some hard and darke places in the Scriptures and yet it followeth not but that the Scriptures are a light vnto our steppes a lanterne vnto our feete the worde of the Lord giueth wisedome vnto
no. And why then may not the bodie of Christ be present and yet not corporally nor locally conteyned in pixe corporax cupp hand or mouth but after a spirituall manner as the holy Ghost is in the cuppe by his owne Iames his saying The last quarrell he picketh is to our ministers who sayeth he haue none authoritie to consecrate because they receiue it not from the catholike succession As for that authoritie which we haue receiued of God by the outwarde calling of the church wee minde not to exchange with the Popes triple crowne and much lesse with Maister Hesk. shauen crowne But to shape him an answere according to his lewde obiection seeing many are suffered to minister in our church which were made priestes after the Popish order of antichrist why should he denye any of them them at the least to haue power to consecrate according to the Popish diuinitie though the wordes be spoken in English so long as he hath intentionē consecrandi before he be of them disgraded and hath his indebeble character scraped out of his handes and fingers endes I aunswere he is not able to defend his opinion that thei cannot consecrate neither in Sorbona of Paris nor in the schoole of Louain To shutt vp this Chapter he flappeth vs in the mouth with S. Mathewes Masse testified by Abdias in the diuels name a disciple of the Apostles as hee saith but one that sawe Christ him selfe as M. Harding sayeth in verie deed a lewd lying counterfeter of more then Caunterburie tales And thinketh he that such fables will nowe bee credited except it bee of such as wilfully will be deceiued The fiue and thirtieth Chapter sheweth the manner of consecration vsed and practised by the disciples of the Apostles and the fathers of the primitiue and auncient church His first author is Nicolaus Methonensis a Grecian but a late writer who affirmeth that Clemens did write a Liturgie which Peter Paule and the Apostles vsed Although that which he rehearseth of Clemens his Liturgie be to small purpose litle or nothing differing from that hee had before of Iames yet Nicolaus Methon is too yong a witnesse to bee credited in this case For he was not of yeres of discretion to discerne that for the authenticall writing of Clemens which the more auncient church by a thousand yeres could not haue perfect knowledge to be his Neither doth the testimonie of Proclus help him any whit For as it is not to be doubted but S. Iames the other Apostles Clemens also appointed some forme of Liturgie for the churches by them planted instructed which is all that Proclus saith yet how proueth M. Hesk. that those which we haue were the same which were written by Iames Clemens or any other of lawful antiquitie when wee bring manifest demonstrations for the contrarie Againe where he saith that Peter vsed the Liturgie of Clemens he is contrary to Hugo cited in the last Chap. which sayth that Peter vsed a Liturgie of his own cōsisting of three praiers only The next witnesse should be Dionysius falsly surnamed Areopagita but that he is clean contrary to M. Hes. transubstantiation carnal presēce priuate Masse or sole cōmunion therefore vnder pretence of his obscuritie he dare cite neuer a sentence out of him Then follow the Liturgies vnder the names of Basil Chrysost. verie litle in words nothing at al in matter differing from that former Liturgie ascribed to S. Iames which because M. Hesk. knoweth we cannot receiue as the lawful writings of Basil Chrysost. he would vnderprop them by the authoritie of Proclus B. of Constantinople as he did S. Clem. S. Iames masse euen now The reason alledged by Proclus will cleane ouerturne his ground worke proue that none of these Liturgies were writen by thē to whom they be ascribed For Proclus sayeth that Basil and Chrysostom made the auncient Liturgies receiued from the Apostles shorter cutting many things away frō them because they were too long for the peoples colde deuotion to abide First this is a colde reason to alter the tradition of the Apostles so many yeres continued in the church for want of the peoples deuotion But be it that they followed this reason then doth it followe moste manifestly that this Liturgie which is ascribed to S. Iames is none of his because it is as short as either that of Chrysost. or the other of Basil. But if M. Hesk. will defende that of S. Iames then hee must needes refuse these of Basil and Chrysost. for these are as long as it therfore none abridgements of it After these Liturgies hee addeth the testimonie of the sixt counsell of Constantinople which condemned Pope Honorius for an heretike wherein it is reported the S. Iames Basil Chrysostome ministred in their Liturgies prescribed wine to be mixed with water But this proueth not that these Liturgies which we haue are the same that were set forth by those fathers as for the water they striue not for it but for wine to be vsed not water onely Finally where the fathers of that counsell call the celebration of the communion an oblation and an vnbloudie sacrifice they speake in the same sence that the elder fathers vse the same termes otherwise that counsell being an hundreth yeres without the compasse of the challenge hath no place but in the lower house among the Burgesses whose speaches may be hearde but they haue none authoritie to determine in this cause by M. Heskins order according to the challenge Now at length M. Hesk. thinketh it time to see the manner of consecration in the Latine church as though Clemens if he were bishop of Rome and wrote a Liturgie as he affirmeth before that of his making might not serue the Latine church But Ambrose is cited lib. 4. de Sacr. Ca. 5. Vis scire c. Wouldest thou knowe that the sacrament is consecrated with heauenly wordes Marke what the wordes be The Priest sayth Make vnto vs faith he this oblation ascribed reasonable acceptable which is the figure of the bodie bloud of our Lord Iesus Christ which the day before he suffred tooke bread in his holie hands looked vp to heauen to the holie father almightie eternall God giuing thanks blessed it brake it being broken gaue it to his Apostles and disciples saying Take ye eat ye all of this for this is my bodie which shal be broken for many Likewise also he tooke the cupp after he had supped the day before he suffered looked vp to heauen to the holie father almightie eternall God giuing thankes he blessed it deliuered it to his Apostles disciples saying Take ye and drinke ye all of this for this is my bloud M. Hesk. passeth ouer that the oblation of the church is the figure of the body bloud of Christ for feare he should be espied taken with such an assertion he flyeth in all the haste to other words of
other cauil that followeth of lay men artificers preaching in open places ministring the sacramentes deserueth no answere for if they be admitted to the office beeing worthy thereof there is no doubt but they may as well now as in all ages of the Church they haue done neither are they to be takeÌ„ for laymen though they haue beene artificers Yet if they presume without calling and admission of the Church they are no more borne withall among vs then suche as counterfet themselues to be Priestes among the Papistes As Englishe Ioan did to clyme to the Papacie as of late a lewd fellow in Italie feigned himselfe to be a Cardinall as Stephanus in his defence of Herodotus doth witnesse We condemne according to the scriptures not only all intrusion of men without calling but all ambitious and symoniacall practises to procure the outward calling So farre off is it that we allowe euerie man of his owne fantasie to intrude himselfe as this man doth most vainely slaunder vs. The 8. Chap. exhorteth men to heare or to read the expositions of the scriptures not to presume vpon their own vnderstanding If there were nothing in this Chapter but answering to the title thereof I would willingly subscribe vnto it But after he hath exhorted as he promiseth by the counsell of Iames Salomon and Hieronyme that we should heare learne of them whom God hath appointed pastors and teachers in his Church he dissuadeth men also by the authoritie of Paule and Ecclesiasticus to appoint vnto them selues Elders or maisters to be carried about with new and straunge doctrines decreeth That they only are lawfull Elders that haue learned of their fathers For whiche cause Luther was no good Elder allowing women to teach openly contrary to Paul 1. Cor. 14. which is an impudent slaunder of Luther who by no meanes would haue women to teache except it were extraordinarily as the prophetesses of the olde time did namely Debora Holda such like Such stuffe is in the other slaunders That contrition maketh a man more sinner where Luther meaneth of that which is without faith therfore must needs be sinne That a righteous man in euery good worke sinneth mortally where he meaneth that sinne and imperfection is mixed euen with the best works not that good workes are sinne That is also a detestable lye that Luther should teach Euery Christian man to be a priest for the common or publique ministery wheras he neither thought nor spake otherwise then the scripture speaketh which hath made vs Kings Priests Apoc. 1. And no lesse is the slander of Zwinglius That he taught that originall offence is no sinne whereas the worlde knoweth that Zwinglius taught the contrarie and the Papistes come neerer to that errour whiche define it to be no sinne in the regenerate it is as false that he taught That Christian mens children neede not to be baptised As it is true that if they dye without baptisme without any coÌ„tempt of their part it is no cause of condeÌ„natioÌ„ vnto them The saying of Christ except a man be borne againe of water of the spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of heaueÌ„ maketh no more for the baptisme of infantes then his saying also except ye eate the fleshe of the sonne of man drinke his bloud ye haue no life in you maketh to proue that infants must receiue the coÌ„munion for neither in the one speaketh he of the sacrameÌ„t of baptisme nor in the other place of the sacrameÌ„t of his supper But where Luther doth often protest that he will not be taught by man but by God he doeth as euerie Christian man ought to do and yet excludeth not the ministerie of men but the authoritie doctrines traditions and inuentions of men which by Luciferian pride take vpon them to teache that they haue not learned of god But howe shall we vnderstand this saying of Maister Heskins speaking in despight of Luther This is another Paule As though only Paul wer called of God without the ministery of maÌ„ wheÌ„ all the Apostles were so or as though it were a reproche to be so called as Paul was if God do extraordinarily stir vp any man as he did the Apostles EuaÌ„gelistes After his deriding of Paul Zwinglius is condemned by that which Maister Heskins hath saide for writing a booke De claritate verbi Dei How wisely and iustly let the godly Readers iudge Next followeth generall rayling against Oecolampadius Bullingerus Caluinus Bucer of whom his aduersarie meaning I thinke the B. of Sarum learned his heresies then he returneth to vnlearned artificers teaching in corners All which he would haue to be auoyded I suppose because he hath rayled vpon them and called them heretiques for other reason he bringeth none Except this be one that Hieronyme thinketh it not sufficient if a man say he loueth God and yet breaketh the vnitie of the Church The Church once named by and by all is his As though it were no coÌ„trouersie at this day whether the Synagogue of Rome be the Church of God or no. And as though all Christendome had bene at all times and in all places obedient to the Churche of Rome before these fewe yeares And therfore he is bolde to demaunde where it was taught in the Christian worlde that Christes naturall bodie is not in the sacrament nor to be offered nor receiued nor honoured Nay Maister Heskins where was this taught in the affirmatiue for fiue or sixe hundreth yeares after Christe As for your other questions of prayer for the dead and prayers to the dead if you bring any reasons for theÌ„ in this your OmnegatheruÌ„ they shal be answered otherwise the readers for me shall resort to other treatises where they be handled of purpose But seeing men must learne the law of their mother that is the Church they must follow Hieronyme which neuer ceased from his youth to seeke knowledge of learned men and trauelled to Alexandria to be instructed of Didymâ—s So did Augustine to Millain to learne of Ambrose No wise man will mislike this counsell But this one thing especially is notable That Damasus being bishop of Rome did send to S. Hieronyme to be answered in certein doubts and disdained not to learne of him I had thought the Pope had had all knowledge In scrinio pectoris in the closet of his brest that he had the spirite of trueth to resolue all doubtes so that he could not erre and that Hieronyme hauing him at Rome needed not to haue sought knowledge at Alexandria But Damasus although euen in that time a ioly stately Prelate as appeareth by some of his Epistles if they be not counterfet yet shewed himselfe farre from that Antichristian pride which the Popes of Rome I cannot say his successors did shew afterward and yet to this day do holde But to omitte Damasus Many learned of Saint Augustine and of other learned men also which were learned them selues They did wel
be shed for you vnto remission of sinnes This place is falsly truncatly cited by M. Hesk. thus Quem paneÌ„ etsi fractum coÌ„minutumque vidimus integer tamen cum ipso suo patre manet in coelis De quo pane dicit panis quem ego dabo caro mea est pro mundi vita Which he Englisheth thus which bread although we haue seen brokeÌ„ brused on the crosse yet it abideth with that his father whole in heauen of the which bread he saith c. Wheras the very wordes are quem panem etsi fractum comminunumque vidimus in passione integer tamen mansit in illa sua indiuidua vnitate De isto pane de isto calice dicebat ipse Dominus Panis quem ego dedero caro 〈◊〉 est pro saeculi vita c. Although this writer as it is manifest to any man that will reade his treatise speaketh onely of the vnitie of the Godhead of Christ with his Father and the holy Ghoste notwithstanding the breaking of his body in his passion which is represented in the sacrament yet M. Heskins vpon his owne falsification inferreth that the body of Christ was and is in three sundrie places on the Table or Altar on the Crosse and in heauen with his father Yea he appealeth to the grammarian for the nature of a Relatiue That the same bread is on the table which was broken on the crosse and that which was broken on the crosse is it which is whole sitting in heauen Which how vaine a reason it is when it is vrged of that thing which hath two natures vnited in one person as our Sauiour Christ hath I appeale from all grammarians to al Catholike diuines as in the saying of Christ no man hath ascended into heauen but he that came downe from heauen euen the sonne of man which is in heauen Ioan 9. Let M. Hesk. with the graÌ„marian vrge the relatiue in this place he shal proue him selfe both an Anabaptist a Marcionist For Christ coÌ„cerning his humanitie came not down out of heauen neither was he in heauen according to his humanity when he was on the earth But what stand we trifling about this testimonie Seeing Augustine both in the interpetation of this whole chapter is so copious vpon the Psal. 98. in exposition of this text is so plain direct against the carnal presens of Christs body in the sacrament Nisi quis c. acceperunt illud stulte carnâ—liter illud cogitauerunt putaâ—eruÌ„t quòd praecifurus esset Dominus particulas quas daÌ„ de corpore suo daturus illis c. I lle auteÌ„ instruxit eos ait illic spiritus est qui vinificat caro auteÌ„ nihil predest Verba quae loquatuâ— suÌ„ vobis spiritus est vita Spiritualiter intelligite quae loquatus sum Non hoc corpus quod videtis manducaturi estis bibituri illum sanguinem quem fusuri sunt qui me crucifigent sacramentum aliquod vobis commendati spiritualiter intellectum viuificabit vos â–ª â—t si necesse est illud visibiliter celebrari oportet tamen inuisibiliter intelligi Except a man eate the flesh c. They tooke it folishly they imagined it carnally and thought that our Lorde would haue cut off certaine peeces of his 〈◊〉 and haue giuen them c. But he instructed them and 〈◊〉 vnto them It is the spirite that quickeneth the flesh profiteth nothing The wordes which I haue spoken to you are spirite and life Vnderstand you spiritually that which I haue spoken You shall not eate this body which you see and drinke this bloud which they shall shed which shall crucifie me I haue commended vnto you a certaine sacrament or mysterie which beeing spiritually vnderstoode shall quicken you Although it is necessarie that the same be celebrated visibly yet must it be vnderstood inuisibly Likewise In 6. Ioan. Tr. 27. Illi enim putabant eum erogaturum corpus suum ille autem dixit se ascensurum in Coelum vtique integrum Cum videatis filium hominis ascendentem vbi erat priùs certè vel tunc videbitis quia non eo modo quo putatis erogat corpus suum certè vel tunc intelligetis quia gratia eius non consumitur morsibus He speaketh plainely if they will vnderstand him For they thought that he would giue his body but he said that he wold ascend whole into heauen WheÌ„ you shal see the sonne of man ascend vp where he was before surely then at the least you shall see that hee giueth not his body after that maner that you think surely then at the length you shall vnderstand that his grace is not coÌ„sumed with bitings If these places were not most manifest euen to the first eye that looketh vpon them I might spend time in obseruing and noting out of them We come nowe to Chrysostome who in his 45. Hom. in Ioan. vpon those wordes The bread which I will giue is my flesh saith The Iewes that time tooke no profite of those sayings but we haue taken the profite of the benefite Wherefore it is necessarily to be saide howe woonderfull the mysteries be and wherefore they were giuen and what profite there is of them And immediatly after We are one body and members of his flesh and of his bones and yet more plainely And that we might be conuerted into that flesh not onely by loue but also in deede it is brought to passe by the meat which he hath graunted vnto vs. He addeth also an other cause of the giuing of this mysterie When hee would shewe foorth his loue toward vs hee ioyned him selfe 〈…〉 his body and brought him selfe into one with vs that the 〈◊〉 might be vnited with the head Finally he adioyneth a plaine place for the proclamer I would be your brother and for your sakes I tooke flesh and bloud with you and by what things I was conioyned vnto you those things againe I haue giuen vnto you Here he triumpheth as though the game were his when in deede there is nothing for his purpose but much against it For no one word of all these sentences proueth that the sixt of Iohn must be vnderstoode of the supper otherwise then as it is a sacrament of that feeding and coniunction of vs with Christ which is therein described And wheras he argueth vpoÌ„ the last sentence Christ gaue vs that flesh by which he was ioined to vs but he was ioyned to vs by very substantiall flesh therfore he gaue vs his very substantiall flesh I confesse it to bee most true for he gaue his very substantiall flesh to be crucified for vs If he vrge that he gaue his flesh in that sacrament although Chrysostome saith not so in this place directly yet the manner of the participation of his flesh must be such as is the maner of his coniunction with vs but that is spiritual by which he is the head and we the members and yet vnited
to the end of the worlde he is both gone away and is here is come againe and hath not forsaken vs For he hath carried his bodie into heauen he hath not taken away his Maiestie from the worlde And in the same treatise speaking of his presence in the sacrament Si bonus es ad corpus Christi pertines quod significat Petrus habes Christum in praesenti in futuro In presenti per fidem in praesenti per signum in praesenti per baptismatis sacramentum in praesenti per altaris cibum potum If thou be a good man and perteynest to the bodie of Christe thou hast that which Peter doeth signifie that is Christ in present and in that which is to come In present by faith in present by signe in present by the sacrament of baptisme in present by the meate and drinke of the altar And againe Loquebatur de praesentia corporis sui Nam secundùm Maiestatem suam secundùm prouidentiam secundùm ineffabilem inuisibilem gratiam impletur quod ab eo dictum est Ecce ego vobiscum sum omnibus diebus vsque ad consuÌ„mationem saeculi Secundùm carnem verò quam verbum sumpsit secundùm id quod de virgine natus est secundùm id quod a Iudae is prÄ™hensus est quod ligno crucifixus quod de cruce depositus quod linteis inuolutus quod in sepulchro conditus quod in resurrectione manifestatus non semper habebitis vobiscum Quare quoniam conuersatus est secundùm corporis praesentiam quadraginta diebus cum discipulis suis eis deducentibus videndo non sequendo ascendit in coelum non est hîc Ibi est enim sedet ad dextram patris hic est non enim recessit prÄ™sentia maiestatis Aliter secundùm praesentiam maiestatis semper habemus Christum secundùm prÄ™sentiam carnis rectè est discipulis Me autem non semper habebitis Habuit enim illum ecclesia secundùm praesentiam carnis paucis diebus modò fide tenet oculis non videt c. That is He spake of the presence of his bodie For according to his Maiestie according to his prouidence according to his vnspeakable and inuisible grace it is fulfilled that was saide of him Beholde I am with you all the dayes vnto the end of the worlde But according to the fleshe which the worde tooke vpon him according to that he was born of the virgin according to that he was taken of the Iewes that he was crucified on the tree that he was taken down from the crosse that he was wrapped in linnen clothes that he was laied in the sepulchre that he was openly shewed in his resurrection you shall not always haue me with you Why so because he was conuersant with his disciples according to the presence of his body by the space of 40. dayes and they bringing him on his way by seeing not by following he ascended into heauen and is not here For there he is where he sitteth at the right hand of his father And he is here also For he is not departed concerning the presence of his Maiestie otherwise according to the presence of his maiestie we haue Christ alwayes But according to the presence of his flesh it was well saide to his disciples but me shall ye not alwayes haue For according to the presence of his flesh the Church had him a few dayes now she holdeth him by faith she seeth him not with eyes These places and such like of which a number might be brought out of diuers authours I wish the Readers to consider for the presence of his body in the worlde or in many places at one time and to see how they will stande with Popish transubstantiation The thirteenth Chapter beginneth the exposition of an other text in the sixt of Saint Ioan. The text he meaneth is this Except ye eate the fleshe of the sonne of man and drinke his bloud you haue no life in you That this should be spoken of in the sacrament of the Lordes supper he wil proue by this reason as a man must haue birth and nourishment so there be two sacraments baptisme the supper by which we are born and nourished vnto eternal life and both necessarie for as Christ speaketh here of the one so to Nicodemus he speaketh of the other except a man be borne of water and of the spirite c. But seeing he himselfe denieth the necessitie of the one and of the other but in them that are of type age c. it is manifest that neither the one place is of baptisme nor the of the other supper but as these sacramentes are seales to testifie the grace of regeneration preseruation But if his reason faile the doctours interpretation shall helpe namely Cyprian and Theophylacte The place of Cyprian hath bene already rehearsed and â—onsidered in the fourth Chapter of this booke whether I referre the Reader for breuitie sake The other place cited by Maister Heskins to proue that Cyprian by this word Eucharistia meaneth the bodie of Christ is Lib. 3. Ep. 15. Illi contra legem Euangelij c. They contrarie to the lawe of the Gospell and also your honourable petition before penance done and before confession made of their most greeuous and extreeme offence before hand was laide on them by the Bishop and the Cleargie for repentance dare be bolde to offer for them and giue them the Eucharistie or sacrament of thankesgiuing that is to prophane the holy bodie of our Lorde Thus much Heskins rehearseth but Cyprian proceedeth Cum scriptum sit c. Seeing it is writen he that eateth this bread and drinketh this cuppe of the Lorde vnworthily shal be guiltie of the body and bloud of the Lorde By these wordes which Maister Heskins concealeth it is apparent how they did prophane the bodie of Christ that gaue the sacrament to vnpenitent offenders namely in that sense which S. Paule saith they are guiltie of the death of Christ. That Theophylacte vnderstandeth this text of the receiuing of the Diuine mysteries and requireth faith in the receiuers although it make litle for his purpose yet because he is a late writer I will not spende time about his authoritie The fourteenth Chapter expoundeth the same text by S. Augustine and Cyrill Out of Saint Augustine are alledged foure places one In Ioan. Tra. 36. Quomodo quidem detur c. How it is giuen and what is the manner of the eating of this bread ye knowe not Neuerthelesse except ye eate that flesh of the sonne of man and drinke his bloud ye shall haue no life in you This did he speake not to dead carkases but to liuing men By this place sayeth Maister Heskins is proued that the Iewes knewe not the manner of eating of Christes fleshe in the sacrament And no maruell for his disciples did not yet knowe it nor could before the sacrament was instituted and therefore
is cyted thus Non enim prudenter c. Those things which suffice for a short time shal not wisely be called by that name neither was that bread good which the Elders of the Iewes did eate and are dead For if it had bene from heauen and of God it had deliuered the partakers of it from death Contrariwise that body of Christe is bread from heauen bicause it giueth the eaters of it eternall life Cyrill saith the body of Christe is the bread that came downe from heauen and which giueth eternall life being eaten euen in the sacrament all this we confesse alwayes But as the body of Christe did not naturally descend from heauen which he receiued here on earth no more speaketh he of a carnall presence or corporall manner of eating but yet of his very flesh and bloud eaten spiritually by faith The two and thirtieth Chapter endeth the exposition of this text by S. Augustine and Theophylact. Saint Augustine is cyted Tract 26. iâ— Ioan. Hic est panis c. This is the bread which came downe from heauen that by eating thereof we might liue bicause we can not haue eternall life of our selues Not saith he as your Fathers did eate Manna and are deade He that eateth this bread â–ª shall liue for euer Therefore that they are dead he would haue it so to be vnderstoode that they should not liue for euer For truely they also die temporally that eaâ— Christ but they liue eternally bicause Christ is eternall life Maister Heskins wondereth what gloses the aduersaries inuent vpon this saying but I maruell what hee can picke out of it for his purpose except it bee this that who so euer eate Christ shall liue for euer but that I am sure hee will none of The saying of Theophylact but that I stand not on his authoritie being a late writer seemeth to be directly against him For hee saith that The Lorde by his flesh which he tooke of the Virgine Marie shall preserue our spirituall nature Which as it is very true so must it needes inforce a spirituall receiuing For our spirituall nature can not receiue carnally or corporally but onely spiritually And yet the wise man noteth in his margent a plaine place for the proclamer which is plaine against his owne purpose The three and thirtieth Chapter proceedeth to the next text in the sixt of S. Iohn The text is that when our Sauiour had taught this doctrine in the synagogue in Capernaum diuers of his disciples were offended and saide This is an hard saying who can abide it Hee aunswereth out of Saint Augustine In Psal. 98. They were hard and not the saying The like out of Theophylact. In Ioan. 6. Who beeing carnall can eate spirituall meate and the bread which came downe from heauen and the flesh which is eaten c. For bicause they had flesh they thought he would compell them to be deuourers of flesh and bloud But bicause we vnderstand him spiritually we neither are deuourers of flesh but rather we are sanctified by such a meate This place for any thing that I can see therein is directly against the carnall eating of the Papistes sauing that Theophylact lyuing in a corrupt time writeth in other places suspiciously of the carnall presence and transubstantiation Nowe where Maister Heskins chargeth vs to be Caparnaites whome he calleth Sacramentaries and derideth our carnall vnderstanding bycause wee can not conceiue howe Christes very body should bee in the sacrament except it should occupie a place and bee felt with our senses let the world iudge whether our vnderstanding or theirs bee more spirituall or else more grosse and like the Capernaites The foure and thirtieth Chapter beginneth the exposition of this text Si videritis c. by Saint Augustine and Saint Cyrill The text is this What if you see the sonne of man ascend where he was before Ere he enter into his exposition hee moueth this doubt howe Christe doth say the sonne of man shall ascend where he was before seeing concerning his humanitie hee was neuer in heauen before he spake these wordes For answere he bringeth a long sentence of Saint Augustine which containeth this in effect that Christ concerning his humanitie would ascend thither where he was before concerning his diuinitie For by reason of the vnion of two natures in one person of Christe that is often spoken of the whole person which is proper either to the diuine nature onely or to the humane nature onely For exposition hee cyteth Augustine Tr. 27. in Ioan. Quid est hoc Hinc soluit c. What is this by this he resolueth them whome he knewe by this he hath opened whereby they were offended by this plainely if they would vnderstand For they thought that he would giue foorth his body but he saide that he would ascend into heauen whole When you shall see the sonne of man ascending where he was before certainly euen then at least you shall see that he giueth not foorth his body after that manner that you thinke certainly euen then at least you shall vnderstand that his grace is not consumed with bytinges Although this place is so directly against him that nothing can bee more plaine yet hee is not ashamed to cyte it for his purpose Affirming that Augustine by these wordes denyeth not the giuing of Christes bodye but the manner of the giuing of his bodye This wee confesse but what manner of giuing doth hee denye Maister Heskins saith onely the giuing of it by lumpes and peeces as the Capernaites did imagine But that is false for he denieth not onely the giuing of Christes bodie by lumpes but also al corporall and carnall manner of giuing thereof as both these wordes aboue cited and the whole discourse of that treatise doth shew most euidently First he saith that Christ by telling them of his ascention doth clearely resolue them and open plainely where at they were offended Which is very true For when they should see that he carried his naturall bodie whole into heauen they might well perceiue that he would not giue that bodie to be eaten after a corporall manner either in peeces much lesse in the whole For the giuing thereof in whole is much more monstruous then the giuing therof in peeces And if there remained a corporall receipt of his whole bodie notwithstanding his absenting thereof from the earth the doubt by his ascention is nothing at all resolued but by an hundreth times more increased Againe where he saith after his ascention Then you shall see that he giueth not his bodie after the manner that you thinke then you shal vnderstand that his grace is not consumed with bitings By these wordes he doeth plainely determine of the manner of giuing that the Iewes thought which was corporall whether it were in whole or in peeces and after what manner Christes bodie is giuen namely by grace But Maister Heskins citeth another place out of Augustine In
For both they haue taken vppon them one administration and both are appointed forerunners wherefore he sayde not this truely it Helias but if ye will receiue it this is hee That is if with diligent studie and with a gentle not a contentious mynde you will consider the dooings of them both Thus Chrysostome And yet I am not ignorant that else where he supposeth that Helias the Thesbite shall come before the day of iudgement which sauoureth of a Iewish fable more then of a Christian trueth as is plainly proued before The fourth Chapter beginneth to declare by the holy fathers of what things Manna and the waters be figures He beginneth this Chapter with a shamelesse lye for he sayeth that wee affirme Manna to be a figure only of the worde of God which is vtterly false for wee affirme that it was a sacramentall figure of the bodye of Christe and so a figure that it was in deede the bodie of Christ after a spirituall manner to them whiche receiued it worthelie But Maister Heskins will haue it a figure not onely of the worde of God but also of the bodie of Christe in the sacrament and so a figure that is was nothing else but a bare figure and not a sacrament And this hee hopeth to prooue out of Sainct Ambrose ad Iren. Ep. 62. Quaeria◠me c. Thou askest mee why the Lorde God did rayne Manna to the people of the fathers and doeth not nowe rayne it If thou knowest he rayneth and daily rayneth from heauen Manna to them that serue him And that bodily Manna truely is founde at this day in many places But nowe it is not a thing of so greate miracle becaus◠that which is perfect is come And that perfecte is the breade from heauen the bodie of the virgine of which the Gospell doeth sufficiently teache thee Howe much better are these things then the former For they which did eate that Manna that is that breade are deade But whosoeuer shall eate this breade shall liue for euer But it is a spirituall Manna that is a rayne of spirituall wisedome which is powred into them that be wittie and searching is from heauen and deweth the myndes of the Godly sweeteneth their iawes Because there is nothing in this saying of Saint Ambrose for his purpose hee falleth into a greate rage against Oecolampadius for leauing out of this sentence Quanto praestantiora sunt haec superioribus Howe much more excellent are these then the other aboue rehearsed Which howesoeuer it was as I am sure it was not of a falsifying mynde so no man in the worlde might worse exclaime against falsifying of the doctours then Maister Heskins as I haue often shewed and doubt not but I shall shewe hereafter But to the purpose it is euident that Saint Ambrose in the former sentence speaketh of Manna as a corporall foode not as a sacrament in which respect there is no comparison between it the body of christ And he is so farre from saying that Manna as it was a sacrament was but a figure of the bodie of Christ as M. Heskins belyeth him that he saith not at all that it was a figure But hee chargeth vs with two other wicked opinions namely That the sacramentes of the newe lawe giue no grace and that they are of no more excellencie then the sacraments of the olde lawe To the first we aunswere and say that the sacramentes giue not grace of the worke wrought as they teach but that GOD giueth grace by his sacramentes in all his elect wee affirme And to the second wee aunswere that as in substaunce the sacramentes of the olde time were not inferiour to oures so in cleerenesse of reuelation and vnderstanding oures are farre more excellent then theirs and that the place of Saint Ambrose which Maister Heskins doeth next alledge doeth very well shewe Oriente autem c. The sonne of righteousnesse arising and more bright sacramentes of Christes body and bloud shining foorth those inferiour thinges or sacramentes should cease and those perfect should be receiued of the people Maister Heskins noteth that if the sacrament were but a bare signe it should not be so magnified by Saint Ambrose But so often as hee chargeth vs with a bare signe so often must we charge him againe with an impudently For wee doe as much detest a bare signe or figure as hee doth a signe or figure As for the three kindes of Manna that Maister Heskins gathereth is altogether out of Saint Ambrose his compasse For hee hath no more but the bodily Manna and the spirituall Manna as the signe and the thing signified And the rayne of spirituall wisedome is the spirite of GOD which sealeth inwardly in the heart that whiche is expressed outwardly by the externall signes I maruell Maister Heskins alledgeth not Saint Ambrose vpon this text 1. Cor. 10. whose woordes might seeme to haue more colour of his bare figure although they be flat against it in deede Manna aquaquae fluxit de Petra haec dicit spiritualia quia non mundi lege parata sunt sed Dei virtute sine elementorum commixtione ad tempus creata habentia in se figuram futuri mysterij quod nunc nos summus in commemorationem Christi Domini Manna and the water which flowed out of the rocke these he calleth spirituall bicause they were not prepared by the order of the world but by the power of God with out commixtiō of the elements created for a time hauing in them a figure of the mysterie to come which nowe we receiue in remembraunce of Christe our Lorde By these wordes it is euident that our sacraments do so differ from theirs as a figure of that which is to come and a remembrance of that which is past do differ For all sacramentes haue their strength of the death of christ Secondly we see that this father calleth our sacrament a mysterie in remembrance of Christ which speach is farre from a corporall manner of presence that M. Heskins would maintaine by his authoritie The other places cited out of Euthymius a late writer as we haue often saide affirme that Manna was the figuratiue bread and a figure but not Christe which was the trueth Howbeit he meaneth nothing else but that Christ was not in flesh present to the fathers in Manna before he was incarnate and so vseth the terme figure as a prefiguration and shadowing not of the sacrament but of Christ him selfe which is the matter of the sacrament euen as Christ him selfe in the 6. of S. Iohn opposing Manna against the true bread that came downe from heauen speaketh not of that spirituall meat which Manna was to the faithfull but of the outward creature which was onely considered of the wicked to fill their bellies and not to feede their soule But M. Heskins remitteth his reader for al matters concerning the 6. of Iohn to the second booke 36. chapter c. and so do I to the same
in alcari Dei c. This that you see on the altare of God you sawe the night last past But what it was what i◠mean◠of howe great a thing it conteined the sacrament you haue not yet heard therefore that which you sawe is bread and a cuppe which thing also your eyes doe tell you ▪ But that your faith requireth to be instructed The breade is the bodie of Christe the cuppe is his bloud Our Lorde Iesus Christe wee knowe whence he receiued fleshe 〈◊〉 of the virgine Marie Hee was suckled being an infant he was norished he grewe he came to the age of a young man he suffered persecution of the Iewes hee was hanged on the tree he was killed on the tree he was buryed he rose againe the thirde day That day he woulde ascende into heauen thither he lifted vp his bodie from whence he shall come to iudge both the quicke and the dead There he is nowe sitting at the right hand of the father Howe is the breade his bodie and the cuppe or that which the cupp containeth how is it his bloud Brethren these things are therefore called sacraments because one thing in them it seene another thing is vnderstoode that which is seene hath a corporall shewe that which is vnderstoode hath a spirituall fruite I doubt not but euery Christian man that readeth this saying vnderstandeth it to be verie cleere against both transubstantiation and the carnall presence as is shewed before lib. 2. Cap. 37. which that Maister Heskins might obscure he maketh a smoke to bleare mens eyes that they might not see any thing therin but the altar Wherefore he rayleth like him selfe against the proclaimer charging him bothe to haue falsified S. Augustine and also truncately to haue alledged him because saith he he citeth him thus Quod videtis in mensa panis est that ye see in the table is bread whereas Augustine sayeth in the altar and not on the table which he durst not name for shame But with what shame Heskins can so reuile and slaunder that godly learned father you shall see by that which followeth immediately where he leaueth in Augustine and iudge whether Master Heskins left out the wordes for shame or else because his note booke serued him no further Corpus ergo Christi si vis intelligere audi Apostolum dicentem fidelibus vos estis corpus Christi membra Si ergo vot estis corpus Christi membra mysterium vestrum in MENSA positum est Mysteria Domini accipitis ad quod estis Amen respondetis respondendo subscribitis Audis ergo corpus Christi respondes Amen Esto membrum corporis Christi vt verum sit Amen tuum quare ergo in pane nihil hic de nostro affiramus Ipsum Apostolum item audiamus Cum ergo de isto sacramento loqueretur ait vnus panis vnum corpus multi sumus Intelligite gaudete Therefore if thou wilt vnderstande the bodie of Christ heare the Apostle saying to the faithfull you are the bodie of Christ and his members If you therefore be the bodie of Christ and his members your mysterie is set on the TABLE you receiue the Lords mysterie wherunto you are you aunswere Amen and in aunswering you subscribe Thou hearest therfore the bodie of Christ and thou aunswerest Amen bee thou a member of the bodie of Christe that thy Amen may bee true Why then in bread let vs here bring nothing of our owne Let vs likewise heare the Apostle Therefore when hee spake of this sacrament he sayeth There is one bread wee being many are one bodie vnderstand ye reioyce ye I trust you see by this that the altar he spake of was a table as you see also how the sacrament is the bodie of Christ. But lest hee might replye that the table was an altar I must further alledge Saint Augustines authoritie that it was a table for it was made of boordes and was remouable For speaking of the Deacons of Rome in Quaest. vet non test q. 101 he sayth Vt antem non omnia ministeria obsequiorum per ordinem agant multitudo fecit clericorum nam vtique altare portarem vasa euis aquam in manus sunderent sacerdoti ficut videmus per omnes ecclesias But that they doe not perfourme all the ministeries of their seruice in order the multitude of Clerkes hath caused for surely they shoulde both carrie the altar and the vessels thereof and powre water on the Priestes handes as wee see it in all churches That they were of boordes and tymber and not of stone lest the Papistes should dreame of their Altare portatiue that their hedge priestes carrie in their sleeues to say Masse in corners the same Augustine writing to Bonifacius Ep. 50. sheweth in these wordes speaking of the insurrection of the Donatistes against Maximianus a catholike bishop of Sagium Stantem ad altare irruente◠horrendo impetu furore crudeli fustibus huiusmodi telis lignis denique eiusdem altaris effractis immaniter ceciderunt Rushing in with an horrible violence and cruell furie they stroke him moste outragiously standing at the altare with staues and such like weapons yea euen with the boordes of the same altare which they brake in peeces The like complaint maketh Optatus in his booke against the Donatistes sauing that he nameth not wood or bordes yet it is plaine by the circumstance that hee spake of none other The place as Maister Heskins citeth it is this Quid est tam sacrilegum c. What is so great sacriledge as to breake scrape or shaue and remoue the altares of God in which you also sometimes haue offered on which the prayers of the people and the members of Christ haue been borne at which God almightie hath beene called vppon where the holie Ghost being desired hath come downe from which the pledge of aeternall life and the sauegarde of faith and the hope of resurrection hath beene receiued of many the altares I say vpon which our Sauiour hath commaunded the giftes of the fraternitie not to be layde but such as are made of peace Lay downe saith hee thy gifte before the altare and returne and firste agree with thy brother that the Priest may offer for thee For what is the altar but the seat of the bodie and bloud of Christe All these your furie hath either scraped or broken or remoued What hath God done to you which was wont to be called vpon there What had Christe offended you whose bodie and bloud dwelleth there at certeine momentes And what doe you offende your selues to breake the altars on which long time before vs as you thinke you haue offered holily Thus haue you followed the Iewes They layde handes vppon Christe on the crosse of you he was striken in the altar of whome the Prophet Helias complaineth to the Lorde speaking in the same wordes with which you among other haue deserued to bee accused Lorde sayeth he they haue
to doe that which Christ commanded to be done and to receiue that which he deliuered vs to be receiued if the particular explication of our faith will not satisfie M. Hes. at least let him after his owne Popish Diuinitie holde vs excused for our implicite faith or if his own principles can hold him no longer then he listeth let him giue vs leaue to esteeme none otherwise of them then he giueth vs example to do The seuen and thirtieth Chapter treateth of the oblation and sacrifice of the Masse as it was vsed of the Apostles and Fathers When not one of the Apostles or Euangelistes make one word mention either of Masse or sacrifice therein M. Heskins taketh vpon him much more then al the Papistes in the world can proue Concerning the Fathers as they vse the terme of sacrifice so I haue often shewed that they meane a sacrifice of thankesgiuing and not of propitiation or else they vse the name of sacrifice vnproperly for a memorial of the onely sacrifice of Christ which he once offered neuer to be repeated Neither do any of these Liturgies which M. Heskins calleth Masses though they be falsly ascribed to Saint Iames Saint Clement Saint Basil Saint Chrysostome c. shewe any other thing but manifestly the same that I haue saide First that which is falsly ascribed to Saint Iames in these wordes Memores c. Therefore we sinners being mindfull of his quickening passions of his healthfull crosse and death his buriall and resurrection from death the third day of his ascension into heauen and sitting at the right hand of thee ô God the father and of his second glorious and fearefull comming when he shall come with glory to iudge the quicke and the dead when he shall render to euery one according to his workes we offer vnto thee ô Lord this reuerend vnbloudie sacrifice praying that thou wilt not deale with vs according to our sinnes No reasonable man can vnderstand here any other but a sacrifice of thankesgiuing or prayer or a memoriall of the sacrifice of christ For he saith not we offer the body and bloud of Christe but being mindfull of his sufferings c. we offer this reuerend and vnbloudy sacrifice for such is the sacrifice of prayer and thankesgiuing The like and more plaine is that which is ascribed to Clemens by Nicholas Methon Memores igitur Therefore being mindfull of his passion death and resurrection returning into heauen and his second comming in which he shall come to iudge the quicke and the dead and to render to euery man according to his workes we offer vnto thee our king and God according to his institution this bread and this cup giuing thankes vnto thee by him that thou hast vouchsafed vs to stand before thee and to sacrifice vnto thee This is so plaine against M. Heskins for the oblation of Christes body and bloud c. that he is enforced to flee to shamefull petitions of principles the end of which is that this bread is no bread this cup is no cup but as Christe called bread in the 6. of Iohn and S. Paule in the 1. Cor. 10. 11. in exposition whereof lyeth all the controuersie That Liturgie which is intituled to S. Basil is yet more plaine for a spirituall oblation of thankesgiuing Memores ergo c. Therefore being mindfull ô Lord of his healthsome passions of his quickening crosse three dayes buriall resurrection from death ascension into heauen sitting at thy right hand ô God the father and of his glorious and terrible second presence we offer vnto thee tua ex tuis thy giftes of thy creatures M. Heskins saith he abhorreth not from the name of sacrifice as we do but he falsly belyeth vs for if he will looke in our Liturgie or communion booke he shall finde that we also offer a sacrifice of thankesgiuing euen our selues our soules and bodies as the Apostle exhorteth vs to be a holy liuely and acceptable sacrifice to god But he will not remember that the sacrifice he speaketh of is not the body and bloud of Christe but tua ex tuis thy creatures of thy giftes or thy gifts of thy creatures namely the bread and wine which also after consecration he prayeth to be sanctified by Gods holy spirite but the body of Christe hath no neede of such sanctification Secondly he noteth not that his Basil maketh but two presences of Christe in the worlde the first when hee liued in humilitie in the the world the second which shall be terrible and glorious by which he doth manifestly exclude the third imagined presence of Christ in the sacrament To the same effect prayeth the Priest in the other Liturgie ascribed to Chrysostome Memores c. Therefore being mindfull of this wholesome commaundement and of all those things which are done for vs of his crosse buriall resurrection ascension into heauen sitting at the right hand of his second and glorious comming againe we offer vnto thee tua ex tuis thy giftes of thy creatures Maister Heskins saith he will not seeke the deapth of this matter but only declare that al these fathers did offer sacrifice In which words he mocketh his readers egregiously whereas he should proue that they offered the body and bloud of Christe to be a propitiatorie sacrifice and that he proueth neuer a whit Nowe that the meaning of that Liturgie was not to offer Christ in sacrifice this prayer therein vsed before the words of coÌ„secration as they terme it doth sufficieÌ„tly declare 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 O Lord receiue this sacrifice vnto thine heauenly altar So that it is manifest they called the bread wine a sacrifice not the body bloud of christ The like is that of Ambrose The Priest saith Therefore being mindfull of his most glorious passion resurrection from death and ascension into heauen we offer vnto thee this vndefiled sacrifice this reasonable sacrifice this vnbloudy sacrifice this holy bread and cup of eternall life This vndefiled sacrifice saith M. Heskins must needes be the body and bloud of Christe for else there is nothing vndefiled that a man can offer But why may it not be as Ambrose calleth it here the holy bread and cup of the communion or as he calleth it a little before in the same place the figure of the body bloud of Christ For the bread and the wine which vnproperly he calleth a sacrifice in steede of a memoriall of a sacrifice in that they be the holy sacraments of Christes body and bloud are holy vndefiled and the foode of eternal life The same Ambrose called the soule of his brother an innocent sacrifice and offered the same to God in his prayer De obiâ—â— fratris c. To conclude not one of all these Liturgies no not the Canon of the Masse it selfe saith that the body of Christe is the sacrifice that they do offer or that they offer a propitiatorie sacrifice or that they offer any other but a
of God which forbiddeth worshipping of any image or similitude of any thing 4 When the faith and intent of him that worshippeth the image is good as to worship one God and his Saintes what so euer is done with this mind so that sacrifice be not made to images it can be no idolatrie What faith is that which is contrarie to Gods commaundement And what call you sacrifice if prayers thanksgiuing and prayses bee none which are offered by the people to images namely to our Ladie of Walsingham of Ipswich c. which can bee none other but those idols that bee set vp in those places wee haue also shewed before that the Councel of Nice 2. wil haue sacrifice offered to the image of Christ. 5 Christians must not be considered as weake fraile like the Iewes and Paynims but strong and full of knowledge according to the prophesies and promises They shall all knowe me c. Iere. 31. and he doth them wrong that iudgeth Gods people proue to idolatrie for images were forbidden the Iewes but as the libell of diuorcement was winked at in them O monstruous impudencie that maketh one of the tenne commandements that hath such a seuere threatening annexed vnto it that the Lorde will punish the transgressours of it vnto the thirde and fourth gâ—â—eration like a permission of that whereof there was no commaundement But what so euer was promised of the knowledge and faith of Christe perteyneth not to all that vnworthily beare the name of Christe but onely to perfect and well instructed Christians 6 If the people be weake and apt to idolatrie yet it is the best way to keep them from it to suffer them to haue and honour conueniently the images of honourable persons as God permitted the Iewes to offer â–ª Oxen Calues c. because they would needes offer some external sacrifice As though God learned of them to make his lawes of sacrifices or if that had ben the best way he would not rather haue permitted images then forbidden them 7 Because the people haue not so many sacrifices as the Iewes therfore it is good they haue the remembrances of the martyrs in images whiche sacrificed their owne bodies It is great maruell the Apostles coulde not finde suche a profitable supplie of the Iewish sacrifices by images but onely the sacrifice of Christes death and the spirituall sacrifices of our selues which if we offer diligently we shall finde matter inough to keepe vs exercised that we neede not spend our time in gaping vpon idols 8 Images are not so much permitted to Christians for their weaknesse as for their strength that they may now haue them worship them without committing spiritual fornication as in times past for to haue none is pusil lanimity In deed it is a Popish magnanimity to contemn the coÌ„mandement of God and it were belike no daunger of fornicatioÌ„ to haue a whore to kisse her to lie with her for Popish Christians are strong ynough 9 The text of Iohn 4. that the true worshippers must worship God in spirite and veritie must not be applyed against worshipping of God by images but against idols and bondage of praying after one corporall fashion for godly images leade vs to spirituall deuotion The Diuel they doe But if they did yet not more then the ceremonies of the olde law the abolishing of which our Sauiour Christe in that sentence doeth promise not to set vppoÌ„ a spirituall worship in spirite and trueth but as Maister Sander would beare vs in hand to chaunge the shadowes and ceremonies from such as were instituted by God to as many other ordeined by men and moreouer to worshipping by images which before was altogether forbidden Note also that he calleth them godly images which terme he reproued in Maister Iewell As for the Votaries he carpeth which can abide to see their concubynes after their vowe of chastetie and yet cannot abide to see popish images let them aunswere for themselues if any such keep harlots as for them that are married they shal better defend their marrying out of the scriptures then the Popish Votaries their filthie abhominable liues vnder the hypocriticall title of chastitie Now followeth 12. commodities that come by images 1 We learne something by them that we knewe not before The Prophet Abacuc faith an image can teach nothing but lies Cap. 2. vers 18. 2 They bring vs in remembrance of the thinges that we know Theodotus of Ancira saith such cogitation is vaine and the deceitfull inuention of the deuil 3 They bring vs in remembrance not as by reading and repeating but by the most speedie twinckling of an eye But faith without the which it is impossible to please God commeth by hearing of Gods word Rom. 8. 4 By seeing and knowing we are prouoked to become like them whose images we worship Nay rather we are made like them whom we worship that is without sense and vnderstanding Psal. 115. 5 We are confirmed in our faith perceiuing those things that are painted be so true that they are euerie where set forth and honored Pictoribus atque poetis quidlibet audendi semper fuit aequa potestas Because Painters and Poets haue alwaies had libertie to setforth what they list Let this be a confirmation of Popish faith it shal be none of mine 6 We are kept wel occupied and deliuered from occasion to imagine idle things of our owne fantasie which might cause idolatrie If they be wel occupied that worship God contrarie to his commandement according to their owne idle fantasie 7 We tarie more willingly in the house of God which is so adorned with godly histories The same reason Durande alleadgeth for hanging of Oistriches egges in the churches Dauid desired to dwel in the house of the Lord al the daies of his life wheÌ„ there was neuer an image in it 8 We consider the companie of heauen how maruelous it is for as the holy of holies which did signifie heauen was decked with the images of Angels he meaneth the Cherubims so must our Churches be decked with images of Angels Saintes to be a figure of euerlasting glorie By the same reason I wil proue that the people must neuer come into the Church for the people neuer came into the holy of holies but the Priest only and that but once a yere And seeing Christ is entred into heauen indeede there must be no more figures of heauen whereof actuall possession is all ready taken 9 We pray to Christ and the Saints at the sight of their images You cal vpon them in whom you do not beleeue and therefore you are Infidels and idolaters or if you beleeue in men you are accursed of god Cursed be he that putteth his trust in man Ier. 17. vers 5. 10 We honour God in his saintes and in the signes and monumentes of them You worship you knowe not what but as you list which is will worship condemned by god Col. 3. vers 23. 11 We glorifie God in